Strained
by Jade Bear
Summary: Draco and Luna encounter each other at Slughorn's party in HBP A missing moment. Written for Ethereal Ravenclaw's First SemiAnnual Fic Contest. [DM&LL OneShot]


**A/N:** This was written for Ethereal Ravenclaw's First Semi-Annual Fic Contest. I wrote the idea posted by LunaObsessed.

**Disclaimer:** Much of the first scene was taken and tweaked from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince UK/Can Ed. Pg. 299-301

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"The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working from within to bring down the Ministry of Magic using a combination of Dark magic and gum disease." Luna explained, as Harry, Prof. Slughorn, Prof. Snape, and Prof. Trelawney all stared at her. Harry seemed to find something amusing, as when she looked at him, she saw his face was dripping with mead and he was choking back laughter.

"Professor Slughorn," Mr. Filch interrupted as he dragged a student along by the ear towards their group. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be Draco Malfoy. Luna remembered he and his fellow Inquisitorial Squad members had captured her, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville and brought them to Prof. Umbridge's office at the end of the last year. Draco's father had lead the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Despite this, she was curious as to why Mr. Filch might be dragging him along by his ear... She thought he looked like he was in a lot of pain. He even looked a bit sickly. Luna remembered that he hadn't played Quidditch in a long time...

"I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Luna watched intently as Draco wrenched himself free of the caretaker's grasp.

"All right, I wasn't invited! I was trying to gatecrash, happy?" he exclaimed, but she thought that he wasn't being entirely truthful. If he had intended on gate crashing, he would have come when everyone else was so as to blend in.

"No, I'm not! You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?" Mr. Filch replied back, with joy written on his face. The caretaker was a bit sadistic when it came to punishing students.

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right. It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

This didn't seem to go over well with either Mr. Filch or Draco, who both looked upset. Harry looked quite intrigued. As Mr. Filch walked away, Draco schooled his features to show a smile of gratitude and thank Prof. Slughorn.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco." Prof. Snape said, again interrupting the conversation. Prof. Slughorn tried to object, but Prof. Snape was adamant. "I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," he replied as he lead the way out of the party. Draco seemed to dislike this even more than staying at the party or being caught by Mr. Filch.

Harry was watching them carefully for a moment before turning to her and saying quickly, "I'll be back in a bit, Luna - er - bathroom."

"All right," she told him, even though she had a fairly good idea of where he was actually going, and that he would not in fact return to the party.

As he left, Prof. Trelawney inquired about the Rotfang conspiracy. Luna explained it to the best of her knowledge on the subject for a few minutes, but then excused herself when she noticed the Divination teacher's was humming and swaying on the spot. She had thought that the smell of sherry had been coming from the rug they had been standing near, as it was likely that someone might have accidentally spilled their drink on it. When she was a few steps away, she realised it had been coming from her former teacher.

Luna stopped in the middle of the room, wondering if Hermione was still there. At least there would be someone else to talk to... "Have you seen Hermione," Cormac McLaggen demanded to know of her from a few feet away.

"No!" she replied loudly as he stepped closer to her. He made her stomach squirm. She tried desperately to find an escape route so she wouldn't have to endure his company any longer, when he stepped in front of the only exit route available.

"Where's your date? Weren't you here with Potter?" She stood on tiptoe to try and find Hermione, to send Cormac her way, but couldn't find her anywhere.

"I was here with Harry Potter, yes. But he wasn't my date, we're just friends... sort of." she explained.

"I wondered why I didn't see you two under the mistletoe. The whole school's talking about it! Wait until I tell Romilda she's still got a chance with Potter! I told her no one in their right mind would date Loony Lovego-" he stopped talking abruptly as his tongue had just went numb. Luna had hit him covertly with a hand jinx she had learned years ago because of all the people who taunted her. As he began to poke at his tongue as if to see if it was still located in his mouth, she escaped outside of the party. She took off her high-heeled shoes and began to walk tenderly back to Ravenclaw tower. She decided to take a route that went by the room of requirement, as she often did even this year. The room reminded her of a time when she had been surrounded by people who didn't torment her and were like her friends. The void the D.A. left was only filled by an incurable ache in her chest. She had managed to climb a few flights of stairs, and was taking a break at the top of the last one, massaging her sore feet when something knocked her back down them. She had been unbalanced tottering up at the top, and she couldn't grab for the railing in the dark because she couldn't locate it. The next thing she knew, she was laying with her ankle underneath her at an odd angle, eyes watering in pain at the bottom of the stairs.

She heard cursing above her, and guessed that someone had knocked into her in the pitch black. Footsteps sounded down the stairs, and she could make out the shape of the person as they neared her.

"Lumos," said a boy in a hushed voice. Draco peered at her for a second, eyes adjusting to the light. "Potter didn't want to have a snog before saying goodnight?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I'm not hurt, thank you for asking," she replied sarcastically, which was unusual for her.

Draco frowned and put out his hand more as an automatic reaction than actually wanting to help her. She took it and tried to stand, but fell back down as soon as she applied pressure to her sore ankle. Tears of pain leaked out of her eyes.

"Harry and I aren't dating."

"Well, if you're crying because he won't snog you, go and join his freakish fan club. They hand out free pictures of him that you can drool over."

"If I wanted to drool over a picture of him, I'd just use the edition of _The Quibbler_ that he was on the cover of. But I don't want to snog him, and I don't want to drool over his picture. We're not really even friends... I don't have any friends."

"Is that why you're crying?"

"I'm not crying. I'm in pain... I think I sprained my ankle. I just know how to mend a small break in a bone, not anything with muscle involved. I'll have to go to the Hospital Wing..." Luna explained, rubbing her sore ankle as she spoke.

"Good luck with that, then. I have something important to attend to." He told her as he turned around and began up the stairs.

"How exactly am I supposed to go all the way to the Hospital Wing? I can't walk. Could you help me, Draco?" she asked, surprised by how timid her voice sounded.

He stopped half way up the flight of stairs and turned back around to face her. He clearly did not want to linger there any more and seemed to be in quite a hurry. Even by the light of his wand, she could make out his greenish complexion. "I think you should go and get something from Madam Pomfrey to help you sleep. You look like you've come down with a case of adult dragon pox. What would your mother do if you died because you didn't take proper care of yourself? What is bothering you so much that you don't even have time to play Quidditch any more?" As soon as she finished speaking the last sentence, Draco got a fiercely determined look on his face and came down the stairs rather quickly.

"Will helping you to the Hospital Wing shut you up?" Draco demanded of her. She blinked and nodded, surprised at his sudden change of mind. He roughly pulled her up and let her put most of her weight onto him. He intrigued Luna.

"I can't think of any reason that you'd stop playing Quiddi-" he interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "I thought you said you'd shut up if I took you to Madam Pomfrey?" Luna closed her mouth as they set off and fought back the tears that were forming in her eyes, this time not from any physical pain.

She knew Seekers had to stay thin and small in order to be any good, but Draco seemed to have taken that to a new level. If he wasn't playing Quidditch, then he had no reason to be so skinny.

"You should eat properly..." she began, but trailed off after a glare from him.

As they were nearing the Hospital Wing, Luna tried once last time to have a conversation with him. "I thought you were an excellent Seeker, Draco," she informed him. He didn't appear to object to breaking the silence this time, but he did have a rather pained look in his eyes.

"I enjoyed watching you fly. You seemed to be actually free up there during your practises, especially when you stayed late after the others had gone. Maybe flying would relax you a little and help you think more clearly. You may even find a solution to whatever's bothering you." She said as they managed to get through the door of the Hospital Wing and he helped her sit on a nearby chair. He seemed to be lost in thought as the matron came bustling towards them.

"My dear, you look so ill! I'll just go and fetch a pepper-up potion for you-"

"I'm not ill. She sprained her ankle." Draco interrupted again, while pointing at Luna and taking a step back.

Luna watched Draco carefully as the older witch tended her ankle. His mind seemed to be going faster than someone Apparating from one side of the room to the other. She murmured her thanks to Madam Pomfrey when she finished healing her ankle. The plump witch then briskly trotted off to get a Pepper Up Potion for Draco, despite his protests that he didn't need one. As soon as she was out of earshot, he spoke.

"I didn't bring my broom this year," he whispered to her, without any drawl to his voice whatsoever.

"Borrow mine. It's hidden behind the tapestry of Bodren the Boring on the third floor. You have to say 'Artemis' before looking behind it... Thank you for helping me," she whispered back.

He stood still for a moment before leaving through the door. She wasn't sure he had even heard her. Just as Luna got up to leave herself, the matron came back. "Where is he?"

"He's gone."

Madam Pomfrey looked indignant. "He should be put on bed rest for at least a week! Here, make sure he drinks this at least!" she exclaimed as she handed Luna the Pepper Up Potion she had located for him.

Luna walked back to her dormitory with the potion in hand, knowing full well that Draco wouldn't take it if she told him to.

Shortly after Dumbledore's funeral, Luna decided she wanted to fly alongside the Thestrals on her broom. She went to her hiding space for it, but when she pulled back the tapestry, she found a surprise. Tied to her broom was a note.

_Thank you,_

_Friend_.

At once, Luna knew Draco had indeed heard her that night in the Hospital Wing, and why he had used her broom to think. Her chest constricted until she realised the way he had signed the note. _Friend._


End file.
